Court rejects pleas for putting names of Sharif family on ECL by Masood Rehman

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday dismissed two identical petitions, being non-maintainable, seeking placing of the names of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family members on the Exit Control List (ECL).

After hearing arguments of the petitioners', a single-judge bench of the IHC consisting of Justice Aamer Farooq ruled that the petitions were not maintainable. The court asked the petitioners whether they had approached the competent forums for placing the names of the Sharif family on the ECL. They, however, submitted that they had approached the forums concerned but they did not bother to respond. They said the Interior Ministry was not cooperating with them. The petitions - by PTI lawyer Usman Saeed Basra and Raees Abdul Wahid advocate - had requested the court to order placing the names of Nawaz Sharif, his children Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz and Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law Capt (r) Safdar and former finance minister Ishaq Dar, on the ECL and freezing their bank accounts.